Belmar: We Need More Officers To Handle 'Crazy' Activity

BELMAR – Just days before Belmar's crowded bar activity made statewide news, Police Chief Tina Scott made clear what the borough needed: more officers.

Scott said "it was a little crazy" in Belmar on the weekend of June 13th and 14th – a week before Gov. Phil Murphy expressed displeasure with videos showing that the customers at D'Jais were a little too close for comfort on the weekend of June 20th and 21st.

During the borough's June 16th meeting, Scott said class 2 officers were still down still in the academy and that she was hoping to get more officers very soon.

On the weekend of June 13th and 14th, Scott said Belmar "ran into a huge problem" and had to bring in three extra patrols.

Over a 36-hour period, she said, the borough issued at least 162 citations for such things as alcohol on the beach and urinating in public. Of those, 30 involved noise violations.

"It's very hard and difficult to cover the areas that need to be covered," she said.

Just a week later, officials said they were prepared to take action if necessary after seeing crowds at D'Jais (see videos below).

Based on what they saw, Murphy and Mayor Mark Walsifer weren't too pleased that there wasn't a lot of social distancing or mask-wearing going on.

During his Monday news conference, Murphy showed empathy, saying "folks have been extraordinary and, after you've been cooped up" for three months and it's 90 degrees, "can you blame people for coming out and letting their hair down a bit?"

"But we are going to have to tighten up. Too many viral videos for my taste," Murphy said, adding that his administration is discussing what actions to take next.

Walsifer told NJ Advance Media that the town is working with the night club and if it doesn't comply, "they’re going to get shut down and they know it.”

Similar issues were raised at Donovan's Reef in Sea Bright. Read more: What Virus? Videos Show Crowded Bars At Jersey Shore

Here are videos and pictures: